Beurel arranged that the old chapel and compound should remain for his future school and informed the Colonial Government in Singapore that it was his earnest desire to establish schools for the boys and girls of Catholic parents and the public in general . Hence the chapel and building would perfectly answer this purpose . At the same time , Rev . Beurel wrote to the SUperior of the Brothers of the Christian Schools in Paris saying that " he dreamed day and night of establishing schools at this furthest extremity of the East lndies ".
Even at this juncture , Rev . Beu rei had still not been able to get the support of h is Superior , Rev .' J . B . Boucho of Penang , whose fear of fi nancial embarassment at that time out Weighed his confidence in any good that the Brothers would be capable of achieving . Furthermore , two other considerations still remained . First , there was the perennial problem of getting money for its construction and maintenance . Secondly , there was the problem of getting the Brothers to staff it . Thus in Feb . 1946 , Rev . Boucho wrote to the Very Reverend Brother Philip , the Brothers ' Superior General in Paris acquainting him with his desire to establish schools in Malaya under the direction of the Brothers . While sympathising with the aspirations of Father Beurel , the Superior General replied that he could not spare men for such a project . Moreover , there was only a limited number of Brothers who were thoroughly acquainted with the English Language . This problem , however , ceased to exist later when more and more Irish Brothers were available .
Against such odds , many might have lost heart and gave up whatever aspirations they may have . However , Father Beurel did not flinch from his purpose . He replied to the Superior General with a vehemence that betrayed h is enthusiasm more than any correct appraisal of the situation when he said , " A struggle to death has started between Protestanism and Catholicism , and it is urgent , Most Honourable Brother , that you help us to save the children on whom the future of the country rests ". There was no doubt that the education of
the youths in Singapore , based on the virtues of Catholicism as well as the mastery of the English Language was urgent at the time . The case , however , was perhaps over-stated by Father Beurel who was closer to the crux of the matter when
concluding his letter he wrote , " Where the glory of God and Salvation of souls are concerned , we must attempt even the impossible at first , Everything becomes easy by the help of God , to whom nothing is impossible or difficult ". Father Beurel appeared to be confident that his letter to the Superior General in Paris would have the desired effect . So even before the reply from the Superior General was received by him , he had made public his plans of establishing a school . On Sunday , 6th June 1847 , on the official opening of the Church of the Good Shepherd , he told the congregation that the whole project had been entrusted to the care of the great Patriarch , St . Joseph . At the same time , determined to make his dream a reality , he wrote to the Queen of France asking for help . Letters were also sent to high ranking French officials , including the French Minister of the Interior and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs . However , against a background of revolutions in Europe in 1848 , which drove King Louis Phillipe out of France , there were no replies to his appeal . Moreover , Bishop Boucho in Penang objected to any of the Brothers being brought out from Europe unless Father Beurel could show that he has sufficient means to maintain the school .
Undaunted by all these difficulties , Father Beurel made a public appeal to the people of Singapore in 1848 to contribute towards the erection of the school building . The response to his appeal for funds from the public was over-whelming . A sum of $ 1,352 _ 50 was collected and there was scarcely a member of the commercial community left out . Well known personalities such as
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